James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, and Russell S.
Sobel, and David A. Macpherson, Microeconomics: Private and Public
Choice, 13th edition, Orlando, Florida: Harcourt College Publishers
(2010). Please note that our publisher has printed for us a special
version of this text containing only the chapters assigned in this course,
and including the corresponding Coursebook (study guide) chapters
also. This text is referred to in this syllabus as "GSSM."

Coursebook to Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice.
The assigned chapters from this Coursebook are bundled into the
special text available for this course at the university bookstore.

Instructional material on Aplia.com (described below)

The Invisible Heart,
by Russell Roberts. This is a romance that teaches a lot of good
economics.

The Choice, a fable of
free trade and protectionism, by Russell. This is also a
work of fiction with important economics lessons.

Additional readings will be distributed in class or made available through
our Blackboard and Aplia sites.

Recommended Reading:

Economics in One Lesson, by Henry
Hazlitt - This has been the single most useful book in my entire economics
education. It has short chapters, no graphs, and remarkably clear
explanations of basic principles.
Free Our Markets, by Howard
Baetjer Jr. I will lend you a copy

The Wall Street Journal - A great way to
keep up with current economic news and to improve your ability to apply
economic theory to the real world

Other Resources
-- The textbook website: http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/isbn/9781285453538.
I have not explored this but you might want to. The Economics Department’s Web Site: The economics department has an
excellent web site. Its internet address is http://www.towson.edu/econ/.
In particular, note the "Research Resources" entry, which contains
links to a wide variety of economic data and news sources. You will not
need to use such data in the course, but if you'd like to look something up,
you can probably find it here.

Purpose
of the Course: The course has two purposes. The main goal is to help students
appreciate the immense value of the market economy to mankind. Within a
relatively free economy, most people live well, and their well-being improves
dramatically as time passes. Outside of a relatively free market economy, most
people live poorly and their well-being stagnates. The main goal of the
course, then, is to help students understand why and how economic
freedom fosters human well-being. The related, second goal of this course
is for students to learn the economic way of thinking and begin to use it to
make sense of the social world.

This honors course follows the pattern of my Econ
201 course, but it requires additional reading and writing. Lectures will
go more deeply into the assigned topics than is possible in Econ 201, and class
discussions are generally richer and more flexible, with more student
participation than is normal in Econ 201. Honors students can expect to
develop their writing and reasoning skills in this course and to practice
applying the concepts they learn in the course to public policy issues of the
day.

Course Description: Economics
has been aptly described as "the study of mankind in the ordinary business
of life." That is our topic for the term. More particularly, this is a
course in microeconomics, also called "price theory." We will
study the behavior of individual people and organizations, in both the private
and public sectors, as they make their decisions and interact with one another.
An essential part of human interaction through markets is the price system.
Prices—prices set freely on the market—are precious. We'll study how prices are
determined and how ever-changing prices allow the world's people to coordinate
our activities very well, even though we are all pursuing different goals and
nobody is in charge.

We will also discuss the role of the essential
underlying institutions of the market economy: private ownership and
freedom of exchange.

In class, if you don't understand a particular
point (or if you disagree with it), speak up so that we can discuss it, or
email me or see me about it.

Course Catalog Description, and Goals and
Objectives Common to All Econ 201 and 203 Sections:

Course Catalog Description: Economic
reasoning of individual choice in household and market decisions.
Economic reasoning of individual choice in household and market decisions;
behavior of firms in competitive and noncompetitive markets, functioning of
labor and capital markets, role of the entrepreneur and effects of government
policies. GenEd II.C.2; Core Curriculum Requirement
II. 6.

Fulfillment
of University Core Curriculum Requirements: Economics 201/203 is a part of the
university’s Core Curriculum for social and behavioral sciences. On completing
the course, students should be able to:

·Articulate relevant basic
assumptions, concepts, theoretical constructs and factual information of the
social and behavior sciences.

·Demonstrate an understanding of
relevant social and behavioral science methodologies.

·Apply disciplinary knowledge from
the social and behavioral sciences to contemporary ethical or social issues.

Fulfillment of
General Education Requirement: Economics 201/203, which satisfies the
Category II.C.2 (Western Heritage: Social and Behavioral Sciences) General
Education Requirement, builds on the logic of individual choice, using concepts
like value and cost, to promote understanding of social institutions that arise
from perceptions of mutual gain. These institutions include domestic and
international markets for goods and resources, nonmarket arrangements like
families and clubs, and political processes.

Although microeconomics is applicable even to non-Western cultures
like isolated tribes, historically the science emerged to explain the
undesigned coordination achieved by the extensive markets that result from
Western political and philosophical heritage. Its most important role is still
to provide a framework for understanding and critically assessing the markets
that largely characterize Western civilization.

Learning
Objectives: After successful
completion of Microeconomic Principles, you will be able to (1) demonstrate an
understanding of the factors that determine demand and supply, (2) demonstrate
an understanding of the factors that cause a change in quantity demanded or
supplied versus a change in demand or supply, (3) illustrate, by properly
interpreting standard economic graphs, how markets (interactions of demand and
supply) determine prices and the way in which resources are used, (4)
understand and be able to explain the significance of the concept of
“opportunity cost,” and (5) illustrate the use of the concept of “comparative
advantage” and how it serves as the foundation for international trade.

Some Applicable University Policies:

Students with disabilities: If you have a documented disability and require
accommodations, please contact me at the beginning of the semester and when
given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Please verify your
eligibility through the Office of Disability Support Services (7720 York Road,
Suite 232, tel. 410-704-2638.).

Repeating the course: According to University policy, all students may
repeat any course once. If repeating, you are advised to inform the instructor.
For a third attempt, the student must obtain prior written approval from the
Academic Standards Committee. If students enroll for a third attempt without
permission, they do so at their own risk.

Withdrawing from the course: Please note that the last day to drop the course, as
noted in the online
Academic Calendar, is November 5. Students who drop on or before this
date will receive a "W" on their official transcript. Those who
drop afterwards must receive a regular letter grade.

Attendance and
Preparation: I expect students to have studied all assigned
readings by the class meeting for which they are assigned, and be prepared to
discuss those readings. Prepare carefully. Doing so will
greatly increase the amount you learn.

I expect students to attend every class
meeting. I take roll at every class. If for some good reason you
must miss a class, I appreciate the courtesy of your letting me know why at
your first reasonable convenience (preferably before the class you miss).

Though I earnestly want you to attend every class,
attendance does not count toward your grade; no credit is given for
perfect attendance, and no deduction is made for never showing up. Attendance
counts only indirectly in that attending regularly will help you learn more and
therefore score better than you otherwise would on the exams (not to mention
the unannounced in-class quizzes and short papers due at class time).

Blackboard: We will make occasional use of
Blackboard, a web-based system for facilitating academic course delivery. There
is only one Blackboard site for all three of my micro principles sections, Econ
201 and Econ 203 combined. In particular, on the course Blackboard site I have
posted outlines (and some PowerPoint presentations) for every class
presentation of the term. You may go get them and download them or print them
as you please. They are in Course Documents.

Also at the course Blackboard site in Assignments
you will find the detailed instructions for all the reading, video-watching,
and short paper writing assignments of the term. The due dates for these are
specified in the Course Outline at the end of this syllabus.

In Blackboard please check the accuracy of your email address by sendinga test message to yourself from within the Blackboard system: if you can
reach yourself that way, then I can reach you; if you can't, then correct your
email address on Blackboard and try again.

Aplia: We will use the online service
Aplia.com, in lieu of a workbook. Aplia has made a deal with our textbook
publisher to bundle Aplia access with our specially-printed textbook at a
reduced price. Look for the Aplia information shrink-wrapped in with
your textbook;don't lose it.

The Aplia offerings I have chosen for you include tutorials,
readings, practice problems sets, and graded problem sets. The graded
problem sets on Aplia (there are more than twenty scheduled) are the
assignments on which your online quiz grade is based, and the exercises and
tutorials on Aplia are an excellent way to deepen your understanding of
economics.

Absolutely as soon as possible, register for
this course's corresponding course on Aplia, even if you cannot pay yet. Enroll
in Aplia now, before paying for it, even if you have not
bought your textbook-and-Aplia bundle yet, because you have a three week grace
period in which to pay for Aplia, while your first graded assignments on Aplia
are due just a few days after the first class meeting. Check the schedule
on Aplia immediately for details.

Online exercises on Aplia count 10% of the course;
that’s a whole grade level, so do your Aplia work diligently.

2.Check that your computer can
handle Aplia properly: On the sign in page, click the "System
Configuration Test" at the bottom right of the window; this takes just a
few seconds and provides detailed information on how to update your system if
necessary.

3.Return to the Sign In page
and click the "Create a New Account" button under "New Users.”

4.You will then be asked to
enter your course key. The course key for this course is as follows:DMHL-EJ9K-RLCX.

5.From there on follow Aplia's
instructions.

You will need to register in Aplia only once. After
the registration process is complete, you will not need to enter the course key
again. For technical problems or problems signing in, please contact Aplia by clicking the Customer Support link at the top
right of any Aplia page. (I think it’s always there.)

Once more for emphasis: Enroll in
Aplia now; pay later if you wish.Your
first graded assignments are due the first weekend and they cannot be made up
later.You have been warned.

See “Course Requirements: Online quizzes,”
below, for further information on what you’ll do with Aplia,
how I grade it, policy for missed assignments, etc.

Facebook: I must ask you honors students to
keep track of two separate Facebook groups. The first is for matters that
concern all three of my sections of micro principles this fall. Members may use
it as they see fit for course purposes. Please be courteous and helpful to one
another. I will use the group to make announcements about all course matters
not specific to your honors section, but applicable to all my micro sections.

The second Facebook group is for honors section
students only. It is called “Honors Principles of Micro, HB fall 2014.” Here is
where you will discuss anything you wish that comes up in our course, including
your reactions to the readings. I will use this group to announce anything
specific to the honors course alone. Here is its address: https://www.facebook.com/groups/271566719717814/
. At your first convenience, please send me a request to join this group also.

Grading Procedures: Grades
for this course will be based on students’ scores on (1) online quizzes (on
Aplia) on the assigned textbook readings, (2) occasional in-class quizzes, and
writing assignments both in-class and out-of-class, (3) written work on The
Invisible Heart to be assigned, (4) written work on The Choice to be assigned,(5)
two hourly examinations, and (6) a cumulative final examination.

Online
quizzes on Aplia
In-class quizzes and short papers Writing on The Invisible Heart
Paper on The Choice1st
hourly exam
2nd hourly exam
Final exam Total

10%14%7%7%17%17%28%100%

Grades are based exclusively on the competence in
economics you demonstrate on these quizzes, papers, and exams. No extra
credit work is assigned or accepted so please don't ask me about it.
Final grades are determined strictly by the numbers, with no curve and no
mercy. I do my best to determine all final grades without knowing what
students have earned what grades.

Grades
in the A range are awarded only for excellent work, work that
shows mastery of the subject.

Grades in the B range indicate good work, work that shows
significant grasp of the subject.

Grades in the C range indicate satisfactory work.

We all know what D and F mean.

Course Requirements:Online quizzes: You will take these on Aplia.com. These quizzes
are meant to motivate you to prepare well for class and to check that you have
done the assigned reading. Accordingly, the deadlines for many of these
quizzes fall before the classes in which we will go over the
corresponding readings.

This term I want to give students the chance to do
more Aplia exercises for credit after we have
discussed the relevant ideas in class. I’m still working out how to do this.
I’ll give you further information, and perhaps ask for your suggestions, at
some point during the term.

Every online quiz counts the same toward the course
grade, no matter how many questions it might have. At the end of the
term, your online quiz grade will be your online quiz average; it counts for
ten percent of the course grade. Because unavoidable problems sometimes
arise (e.g., computer problems, network problems, illness, car problems, deaths
in the family, late enrollment in the course etc.), in calculating this grade I
drop your four lowest scores. This gives you four "free passes"
to cover unavoidable emergencies that prevent you from taking the online
quizzes by their deadlines. Note that sometimes more than one quiz will
be due on the same day. Allow for possible emergencies by completing
quizzes as far in advance of the deadline as you think reasonable.

In-class quizzes and short papers done at home:
In-class quizzes will be explained when I give them. Assignments for
short papers done at home are posted in the "Assignments" section of
the course Blackboard site.Their due
dates are specified in the Course Outline at the end of this syllabus.
Most of those assignments are already visible to you on Blackboard in
“Assignments.”Some new may be added. On
all, please write your name only on the bottom of the back of the last page of
your paper. (This is so that I don't know who you are as I grade your
work. Not knowing who has written a paper helps me avoid unconscious
bias.)

Expect pop quizzes in class any time. Their purpose
is to motivate you to study all reading assignments carefully as well as to
check your understanding.

All take-home quizzes and papers should meet the
following requirements:

Writing quality: Papers must be clearly written and use correct grammar and
spelling. They should be organized, edited, and proofread. Grammar,
punctuation, spelling and the like count for half the paper's grade.(See “Getting help on your writing,” below,
if I clobber your grade for poor writing.)

Hard copy submission: Papers must be paper—hard copy. I’m
jealous of the time it would take me to print students’ papers for them, so
please print your own and do not submit
papers by email unless some extraordinary situation arises and you get my
permission to do so.

Lateness: Papers submitted after I have graded the rest of the batch
will not be accepted. If you want to submit a paper late in hope that it will
be graded and counted, please deliver it to my faculty mailbox (ST 101) as soon
as you can. You may be penalized 5% per 24-hour period (including weekend
days) beginning the moment the paper is due, except in extraordinary
circumstances. (Minor illnesses, printer problems, car problems, etc. are
not extraordinary circumstances.)

Format:

·Print
from a word processor or type; double-space; format neatly.

·Use
a normal-sized font.

Getting help on your writing

Students are expected to write at a college
level. Sadly, many students arrive at Towson poorly prepared to do
so.That poor preparation is not usually
your fault, but the fault of the dreadful writing instruction you have received
in school.Be that as it may, you are in
college now and I’ll expect you to write at a college level.Here are three programs that you can use to
improve:

For help with organization and content, please make an appointment with the CBE
Writing Proficiency Program, located in Stephens Hall 117, by calling 410-704-4379
or sending an e-mail to cbewriting@towson.edu
. The program is available Monday through Friday during the semester.Writing consultants in the program will
review your work and provide feedback.See the Program website: http://www.towson.edu/cbe/student/writing/index.asp.

If you need help with basic grammar and
punctuation, you have two options.You
may contact the university’s Writing
Support Center at http://www.towson.edu/writingcenter/.Alternatively, you can find information on
specific points of grammar and punctuation online at Towson’s Online Writing Support: http://wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/.

Late or missed in-class quizzes or exams:
Quizzes and exams must be taken at their scheduled times except in
extraordinary circumstances, with my specific permission. If some
emergency prevents you from taking a quiz or exam on schedule, you must present
a written (email is okay) explanation of the problem before the
quiz or exam, or as soon as possible afterwards, so that we can make
alternative arrangements.

Additional requirements for honors section only:

Written work on The Invisible Heart: I want you to have a good chance to
discuss these two books by Russ Roberts, and we won’t have a lot of time in
which to discuss them in class. Accordingly I want you to discuss them in the
Facebook group set up for your section.

The two main rules for these discussions are 1)
that you keep up with the reading and Facebook discussion, making a good
contribution throughout the term, and 2) that you never spoil the story for your classmates by writing about anything
that happens after whatever is assigned to that point. It is fine to read
ahead; probably many of you will want to. But don’t write ahead!

I’ll have more instructions for you on this part of
the course in class.

Paper on The Choice: I’ll give you a detailed assignment later
in the term.

Academic Integrity: This
should go without saying, but let us say it anyway: Be honest. Present as
your own work only your own work. Your character development is far more
important than your grade. Practice integrity in your actions and you
will build it in yourself.

I encourage you to work together because we all
learn from talking over ideas with others. So feel free to work on problems
together and to have classmates read your written work and make comments on it.
BUT any work you submit must be your own. This requirement applies notably to
take-home papers: feel free to talk the questions over with others all you
want, but let the answers you submit be entirely in your own words. Others'
contributions to your thinking should be identified as such.

Any written work you
submit should be your own words, or identified as ideas you got from
someone else.

Any time you use
wording other than your own, put it in quotation marks and identify the
source (e.g., "As my roommate Michelle explained it to me, 'All
costs are opportunity costs.'"

All charts and graphs
you submit must be drafted by you alone.

When in doubt, ask me.

I will deal severely with any sloppiness in this respect. Anyone who cheats
will fail the course.

Cell phones, laptops, tablets and other
electronic devices: Please use
good judgment with these; make sure you don't disturb your classmates or
me.

I request that cell phones be turned to silent
or off during class, because the just-barely-audible drone of phones set
to "vibrate" can be very distracting. Please never look at your
phone during class unless you have some truly important reason to do so; losing
a student’s attention distracts me.Feel
free to use a laptop during class to take notes, but please use it only for
work in this course. While you are in class, please give the class your
full attention; that matters to me.

Please keep all electronics off during tests unless
you get my permission to have it on at that particular time.

Recommendations for how to succeed (learn a lot
and get a good grade) in this course: Do #1 right now and #2 - #7 in
sequence every week. Do #8 as necessary.

Make up your mind to think. If you try to get by
in this course by memorizing, you'll probably get a lousy grade and have
no fun. If you aim really to understand the principles, you will
probably get a good grade and enjoy yourself. What we are studying is
great stuff with tremendous explanatory power in almost every area of
life.

Get enough sleep. It is remarkable how
much better our minds work when they are rested.

Study the required
readings thoroughly.
Do so while you are rested, in a quiet place, in a nice long block of
uninterrupted time. Read actively: Underline and make
marginal notes of key ideas, questions, useful illustrations and the
like.

Do the practice
exercises on Aplia until you are comfortable with the concepts they cover. Their
interactive nature will help you learn more deeply than just reading
allows.

Answer a liberal
sampling of the "Critical Analysis Questions" at the end of every
chapter of the text. These are good questions for helping you get below
the surface of the ideas and understand them in practical application.
We'll discuss some of these in class. Yes, doing all this work is
time-consuming. But you'll learn thoroughly, and get a much better grade,
if you work with and practice applying the concepts you'll
be learning.

Speak up in class. Ask questions
whenever you don't understand something. Take a shot at answering my
questions as often as you can, within the bounds of courtesy to others.
Articulating your thoughts helps you develop them. Learn actively.

Answer lots of
questions in the Coursebook to the text for every chapter we study.
(Chapters from the Coursebook corresponding to the chapters
assigned in the text are physically bound into the back of the volume
specially printed for this course.) Do this promptly after studying the
textbook readings for the week if you can, but definitely before the test
on those chapters. Check your answers against the explanations given.
Whenever there is a question whose answers you don't understand, ask a
classmate about it, or ask me in class. My students in past runs of
the course have found this Coursebook particularly helpful in
preparing for tests.

Come see me during
office hours
on anything that has you excited or troubled or stumped. I love teaching
this stuff. You won't be a burden; I'll be glad to see you.

Course
Outline

The readings and writing assignments for each week are given in the table
below. Writing assignments referred to in this outline are detailed in
“Assignments” on our course Blackboard site.(If you don’t see one there, please let me know right away; that means I
have fouled up.)

In addition to the reading and writing assignments in this outline, you are
responsible for doing all exercises assigned for this course on Aplia.The Aplia assignment schedule is available
only on Aplia.

I may assign additional handouts and web readings from time to time.If and when I do, I’ll announce them on our
course Facebook group page.

For Wednesday: GSSM, Chapter 4,
"Supply and Demand: Applications and Extensions," pp. 77-78 on
black markets; do short paper on
Holcombe's "The Drug Problem."

Oct.
20

Do online reading and short
paper assignment on Fred I. Kent's "Letter to His Grandson,"
and also review carefully GSSM pp. 30-37 on the ways humans improve our
living standards.

Roberts, The
Choice, Chapters 1-4

For Wednesday: GSSM, Chapter 5,
"The Economic Role of Government"

Oct.
27

Roberts, The
Choice, Chapters 5-7

Second hourly test, Wednesday, Oct. 29. Please
bring a pencil.

Nov.
3

GSSM, Chapter 6, "The Economics of Collective
Decision Making”; also watch YouTube clips and do short paper assignment on “Politics Without Romance.”

Roberts, The
Choice, Chapters 8-11

For Wednesday: Special Topic 10,
"The Question of Resource Exhaustion" and Special Topic 11,
"Difficult Environmental Cases and the Role of Government."

Nov.
10

Do short paper
assignment on Special Interest Effect videos.

Roberts, The
Choice, Chapters 12-15

For
Wednesday:
GSSM, Chapter 16, "Gaining from International Trade"; also do
online reading and short paper
assignment on Frederic Bastiat's "A
Petition."

Nov.
17

Do online readings on Glenn Garvin's "View From the
Garment Factory" and Russell Roberts’s “Does Trade Exploit the Poorest
of the Poor?” There will be a final exam question on these articles. Also
watch on YouTube “Is Your iPod Unpatriotic?”

For Wednesday: Do online reading and short paper assignment on "Something
Else," by Frederic Bastiat.

Nov.
24

Paper on Roberts, The Choice, due Monday at class time

For
Wednesday:
Thanksgiving Break

Dec.
1

GSSM, Special Topic 2, "The Economics of Social
Security"

Review; practice questions in preparation for final

Dec.
8

Review; final lecture

Final Exam:Wednesday, Dec. 17, 12:30-2:30.Please bring a pencil, and please
double-check me on this date and time against the university
calendar.